Jasmine Crockett has addressed criticism over her claims that a Republican politician received donations from Jeffrey Epstein, admitting that her research was conducted in haste.

The Texas Democrat stood by her colleague Stacey Plaskett, who faced backlash for texting with the infamous billionaire, by pointing fingers at Republicans allegedly linked to donations from “someone named Jeffrey Epstein.”

Crockett mentioned several high-profile Republicans, including Mitt Romney, George Bush, the 2008 McCain/Palin campaign, and Lee Zeldin, the current head of the Environmental Protection Agency, as recipients of such contributions.

In response, Lee Zeldin, a former Congressman and former New York gubernatorial candidate, quickly set the record straight.

“Yes, Crockett, it was a physician named Dr. Jeffrey Epstein—a completely different individual from the notorious Jeffrey Epstein—who contributed to one of my earlier campaigns. No relation whatsoever, you genius!” Zeldin retorted.

The donor in question was indeed a Long Island doctor named Jeffrey Epstein, as recorded in the Federal Election Commission filings.

Crockett was challenged by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on why she decided to make the false connection between Zeldin and the convicted sex trafficker.

‘I never said that it was that Jeffrey Epstein. Because they decided to spring this on us in real time, I wanted Republicans to think about what could potentially happen because I knew they didn’t even try to go through the FEC,’ she said. 

Jasmine Crockett responded to accusations that she wrongly accused a Republican of having received money from Jeffrey Epstein by saying it was hastily researched

Crockett cited Lee Zeldin, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, as having received donations from someone named Epstein. Zeldin clarified that not only was it a different Epstein, the donations had come in after the pedophile died

Crockett argued that she had only 20 minutes to debate on behalf of Plaskett, who was facing a censure by the House, and had to think fast. 

‘My team, what they did is they Googled and that is specifically why I said a Jeffrey Epstein, unlike Republicans, I at least don’t go out and just tell lies. Because it was not the same one, that’s fine, but when Lee Zeldin has something to say all he had to say was it was a different Jeffrey Epstein.’

She justified what she had done by confirming that Zeldin admitted to having received money from the other Epstein but continued to try and sow doubt. 

‘Now, have I dug in to find out who this doctor is? I have not, so I will trust and take what he says that it wasn’t that Jeffrey Epstein. But I was not attempting to mislead anybody.’

Collins challenged Crockett that it was a weak attempt to connect key officials to a registered sex offender. 

‘Within 20 minutes you could not find that out just from doing a quick search on FEC. I made sure that it was clear that it was a Jeffrey Epstein, but I never said that it was specifically that Jeffrey Epstein because I knew that we would need more time to dig in.’

Zeldin dropped a hammer on Crockett, revealing that the information on the donation was public and it happened after the infamous Epstein killed himself in prison in 2019. 

‘When you find yourself in a hole, it’s best to stop digging. The public FEC report Crockett referenced on the House floor very clearly states that the Jeffrey Epstein who donated to my past campaign was a physician, and the donation date was well AFTER the other Jeffrey Epstein WAS ALREADY DEAD!!!’

Crockett claimed that she only had 20 minutes to do research and had her staff Google anyone who had gotten donations from someone with the name Jeffrey Epstein

On Wednesday, a day after Plaskett narrowly avoided being censured over the exchange, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown wasted no time in pressing her about the texts. 

Plaskett avoided the censure because Democrats like Crockett refused to turn on the delegate to the Virgin Islands. 

Brown pointed out that Epstein was already a ‘known sex offender’ when the delegate communicated with him.

Plaskett, 59, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said she had ‘lots of people’ texting her that day and that she had been chatting with Epstein, one of her constituents, to obtain information. 

She denied that Epstein had been ‘directing’ her about what to say at the hearing, despite texts showing he alerted her about one of Trump’s former executive assistants.

Brown asked whether Plaskett would have still asked Cohen about the executive assistant if it weren’t for Epstein’s texts.

‘Probably not,’ Plaskett conceded, before being asked by Brown if she had ‘any regrets’ about the correspondence given Epstein’s known sexual abuse. 

‘Well, listen, I think Jeffrey Epstein is a reprehensible person. Absolutely disgusting. I lived in a house during childhood with a mother who had been sexually abused by her dad. And I know the effect that had on her, as well as us as her family,’ Plaskett replied.   

Crockett was doing all of this to defend Stacey Plaskett, the US Virgin Islands non-voting delegate recently caught texting Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing in 2019

‘And so I understand what the victims are going through, and I want them to get their relevant – their justice, their peace out of this. 

‘I believe that Jeffrey Epstein had information, and I was gonna get information to get at the truth. Having a friendship with him is not something that I would deem to have. 

‘And so I’m just looking forward – I’m moving forward,’ she maintained, before urging the ‘American people’ to do the same.   

‘If individuals are not involved in illegal activity, extending his criminal enterprise or his financial enterprise or all of those things, I think that we need to look at what people are doing moving forward.’

Brown stopped to again emphasize that many of Epstein’s crimes were already public, as he had already pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges in 2008 and was facing accusations from dozens of other women.

‘There are a lot of people who have done a lot of crimes, and as a prosecutor, you get information from people where you can,’ Plaskett responded.

‘I’ve interviewed confidential informants, I’ve interviewed narcotics, drug traffickers and others, and that doesn’t mean that I’m their friend. 

‘That doesn’t mean that they are friendly with me. It means that they have information that I need and that I’m trying to get at the truth, and that’s what I do.’

Brown again asked if Plaskett regretted the decision. 

‘So no regrets, basically, is what you’re saying?’ the co-host asked.

‘I’m moving forward,’ Plaskett replied.

At the time of the messages, Epstein was a resident of the Virgin Islands.  

The Washington Post uncovered that the pair had texted after her name was initially redacted from the emails. Her office confirmed their report. 

The delegate avoided censure Tuesday after the House voted 214-209 against formally reprimanding her over the texts.

Months after the Cohen hearing, in August 2019, Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.